THERMOTHERAPY IS A TOOL FOR MANAGEMENT OF FLACHERIE DISEASE IN SILKWORM BOMBYX MORI L.

The silkworm is the larva of the domestic silk moth, Bombyx mori L. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. The success of sericulture industry mainly depends on proper disease management. Microsporidia, bacteria, fungi and viruses cause an estimated crop loss of about 27-35% (Selvakumar et al., 2002). The bacterial disease is also as called flacherie diseases because the corpses of silkworms die, later becomes soften and rot. Thermotherapy consists of application of heat for the purpose of changing the cutaneous, intra articular and core temperature of soft tissue with the intention of improving the symptoms of certain conditions. Thermotherapy is to alter tissue temperature in a targeted region over time for the purpose of inducing a desired biological response. The majority of thermo-therapies are designed to deliver the thermal therapy to a target tissue volume with minimal impact on intervening or surrounding tissues. Late age silkworms held at higher temperature had lower incidence of infectious flacherie. In this review, the importance of thermotherapy, management of flacherie disease in silkworm will be discussed.